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Welcome to the One Hundred & Eighty Fifth Edition of The Chronicles Of Podcast, These are The Chronicles of Marc Rienzo Marc Rienzo, a world-renowned VFX Supervisor and Digital Artist whose credits include blockbuster hits such as Captain America: Brave New World, Spiderman, Rock of Ages, and more joins us aswe dive deep into Marc's journey from being inspired by classics like Batman, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars to shaping the visuals of Hollywood's biggest productions. Marc explains the role of a VFX artist, the preparation that goes into major projects, and how the industry has transformed over the last two decades. This conversation explores the advantages of freelancing, the rise of AI in the world of VFX, and the ethical questions surrounding its use in film. Marc also shares insights on his upcoming graphic novel The Old Man and The Omnipotent and gives an inside look into his creative process, including a great story about working on Rogue One! Also this week, Tom dives into another bizarre world championship you won't believe actually exists – the World Worm Charming Championships, a very real event that takes place right here in the UK. In Story Time with Tom, things get even stranger as he shares the shocking tale of a surgeon with an amputation fetish. You're going to be asking yourself, what on earth is going on this week? The boys also catch up on life as Jamie battles through ongoing neck pain and the chaos that comes with it, while Tom gives us the latest update on his NFL fantasy football season. Birthday boy Callum returns with a brand new set of Teachings, including the question of whether modern medicine has ever really improved on the humble bag of frozen peas. We also have Tom's Journal, packed full of the funniest and weirdest internet finds from the past week, plus our Single of the Week where we spotlight two new tracks you need to hear. Jamie leads the audience participation challenge and this week we want to know the greatest tribute band name you've ever come across. Official Website - Marc Rienzo Official Website - The Chronicles of Podcast Affiliate Charity - Sophie Lancaster Foundation
Julius en Jasper bespreken het filmjaar 2025 tot nu toe en bespreken onder andere de films HalloWiebe, Clown in a Cornfield, Drop, Locked, Death of a Unicorn, Sketch, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Life of Chuck, 28 Years Later, Wolf Man, Dracula: A Love Tale, Sinners, Weapons, Companion, Superman, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Novocaine, Nobody 2, Ballerina, Captain America: Brave New World, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Dangerous Animals, Bring Her Back, Kind en Alpha. Verder een gesprek over CGI honden, Jai Courtney en De Heilige Geest. De volgende aflevering van Julius vs Jasper gaat over twee minder bekende films van Alfred Hitchcock: The Trouble With Harry (1955) en Frenzy (1972).
In this episode, Mary & Frost discuss the Marvel feature film, Captain America: Brave New World, available on Disney+.
In this week's episode, I take a look back at the movies and streaming shows I watched in Summer 2025. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book #1 in the Ghost Armor series, (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store: FALLSERPENT50 The coupon code is valid through September 15, 2025 (please note the shorter expiration date). So if you need a new audiobook this fall, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 267 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is September 5, 2025 and today I'm doing a review roundup of the movies and streaming shows I saw in Summer 2025. Before we do that, we will have Coupon of the Week and a progress update on my current writing and audiobook projects. First up, this week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book One in the Ghost Armor series (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store. That is FALLSERPENT50. This coupon code will be valid through September 15th, 2025 (exactly one week). So if you need a new audiobook to listen to as we head into fall, we have got you covered. Now for an update on my current writing and audiobook projects. I am pleased to report that the rough draft of Blade of Flames, which will be the first book in my new Blades of Ruin epic fantasy series is finished. The rough draft came at about 90,000 words long, which was what I was aiming for. Next up, I will be writing a short story set as sort of a bonus in that plot line called Thunder Hammer and that will be the backstory of one of the characters in Blade of Flames. And when Blade of Flames comes out (which will hopefully be later this September), newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of Thunder Hammer. So this is an excellent time to subscribe to my newsletter. I am also 8,000 words into Cloak of Worlds. At long last, I am coming back to the Cloak Mage series after nearly a year's absence. Longtime listeners will know the reason was that I had five unfinished series and I wanted to spend the summer of 2025 finishing the unfinished ones and focusing up so I will only have three ongoing series at any given time. I'm hoping Blade of Flames will come out before the end of September and Cloak of Worlds before the end of October, and after that I will be able to return to the Rivah series at long last. In audiobook news, recording is finished on Shield of Power. That will be excellently narrated by Brad Wills and hopefully once it gets through processing and quality assurance and everything, it should be showing up on the various audiobook stores before too much longer. Hollis McCarthy is about halfway through the recording of Ghost in the Siege, which was, as you know, the last book in the Ghost Armor series that just came out. And if all goes well, the audiobook should be coming out probably in October once everything is done with recording and quality assurance and all that. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects. 00:02:34 Main Topic: Summer 2025 Movie/TV Roundup So without further ado, let's head into our main topic. The end of summer is nigh, which means this time for my summer movie review roundup. As is usual for the summer, I saw a lot of movies, so this will be one of the longer episodes. For some reason I ended up watching a bunch of westerns. As always, the movies are ranked from least favorite to most favorite. The grades of course are totally subjective and based on nothing more than my own opinions, impressions, and interpretations. Now on to the movies. First up is the Austin Powers trilogy, the three movies of which came out in 1997, 1999, and 2002. The Austin Powers movies came out just as the Internet really got going in terms of mass adoption, which is likewise why so many Austin Powers and Dr. Evil memes are embedded in online culture. Despite that, I had never really seen any of them all the way through. They've been on in the background on TBS or whatever quite a bit when I visited people, but I've never seen them all. But I happened upon a DVD of the trilogy for $0.25 (USD), so I decided for 25 cents I would give it a go. I would say the movies were funny, albeit not particularly good. Obviously the Austin Powers movies are a parody of the James Bond movies. The movies kind of watch like an extended series of Saturday Night Live skits, only loosely connected, like the skit is what if Dr. Evil had a son named Scott who wasn't impressed with him or another skit was what if a British agent from the ‘60s arrives in the ‘90s and experiences culture clash? What if Dr. Evil didn't understand the concept of inflation and demanded only a million dollars from the United Nations? What if Dr. Evil was actually Austin's brother and they went to school together at Spy Academy? Michael Caine was pretty great as Austin's father. Overall, funny but fairly incoherent. Overall grade: C- Next up is Horrible Bosses, a very dark and very raunchy comedy from about 14 years ago. It came out in 2011. Interestingly, this movie reflects what I think is one of the major crises of the contemporary era, frequent failures of leadership at all levels of society. In the movie Nick, Dale, and Kurt are lifelong friends living in LA and all three of them have truly horrible bosses in their place of employment, ranging from a sociopathic finance director, the company founder's cokehead son, and a boorish dentist with a tendency to sexual harassment. At the bar, they fantasize about killing their horrible bosses and then mutually decide to do something about it. Obviously, they'd all be prime suspects in the murder of their own bosses, but if they killed each other's bosses, that would allow them to establish airtight alibis. However, since Nick, Dale and Kurt are not as bright as they think they are, it all goes hilariously wrong very quickly. Bob Hope has a hilarious cameo. If the best “crude comedies” I've seen are Anchorman, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball, and the worst one was MacGruber, I'd say Horrible Bosses lands about in the middle. Overall grade: C Next up is Cowboys and Aliens, which came out in 2011. Now I almost saw this in 2011 when it came out, but I was too busy to go to the theater in July of 2011, so I finally saw it here in 2025 and I would say this was almost a great movie, like the performances were great, the concept was great, the scenery was great, the special effects were great, and the story was packed full of really interesting ideas, but somehow they just didn't coalesce. I'm not entirely sure why. I think upon reflection, it was that the movie is just too overcrowded with too many characters and too many subplots. Anyway, Daniel Craig portrays a man who wakes up with no memory in the Old West, with a mysterious bracelet locked around his wrist. He makes his way to the town of Atonement, and promptly gets arrested because he is apparently a notorious outlaw (which he doesn't remember). While he is locked in jail, space aliens attack the town. The aliens, for unknown reasons, abduct many of the townspeople, and Daniel Craig's character, who is named Jake even if he doesn't remember it, must lead the town's effort to recover their abducted citizens. Harrison's Ford has an excellent performance as this awful cattle baron who nonetheless has virtues of courage and fortitude that you can't help but admire. An excellent performance. That said, the movie was just too packed, and I thought it would work better as a novel. After I watched the movie, it turned out that it was indeed based off a graphic novel. Novels and graphic novels allow for a far more complex story than a movie, and I don't think this movie quite managed to handle the transition from a graphic novel to a film. Overall grade: C Next up is Heads of State, which came out in 2025. This was kind of a stupid movie. However, the fundamental question of any movie, shouted to the audience by Russell Crow in Gladiator is, “are you not entertained?!?” I was thoroughly entertained watching this, so entertained I actually watched it twice. Not everything has to be Shakespeare or a profound meditation on the unresolvable conflicts inherent within human nature. Anyway, John Cena plays Will Derringer, newly elected President of the United States. Idris Elba plays Sam Clark, who has now been the UK Prime Minister for the last six years. Derringer was an action star who parleyed his celebrity into elected office (in the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger did), while Clarke is an army veteran who worked his way up through the UK's political system. Needless to say, the cheerful Derringer and the grim Clarke take an immediate dislike to each other. However, they'll have to team up when Air Force One is shot down, stranding them in eastern Europe. They'll have to make their way home while evading their enemies to unravel the conspiracy that threatens world peace. So half action thriller, half buddy road trip comedy. The premise really doesn't work if you think about it too much for more than thirty seconds, but the movie was funny and I enjoyed it. Jack Quaid really stole his scenes as a crazy but hyper-competent CIA officer. Overall grade: C+ Next up, Captain America: Brave New World, which came out in 2025 and I think this movie ended up on the good side of middling. You can definitely tell it went through a lot of reshoots and retooling, and I suspect the various film industry strikes hit it like a freight train. But we ended up with a reasonably solid superhero thriller. Sam Wilson is now Captain America. He's not superhuman the way Steve Rogers was and doesn't have magic powers or anything, so he kind of fights like the Mandalorian – a very capable fighter who relies on excellent armor. Meanwhile, in the grand American political tradition of failing upward, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who spent years persecuting The Hulk and whose meddling caused the Avengers to disband right before Thanos attacked, has now been elected President. To Wilson's surprise, Ross reaches out and wants him to restart the Avengers. But Ross (as we know) did a lot of shady black ops stuff for years, and one of his projects is coming back to haunt him. Wilson finds himself in the middle of a shadowy conspiracy, and it's up to him to figure out what's going on before it's too late. I was amused that lifelong government apparatchik Ross wanted to restart the Avengers, because when the Avengers had their biggest victory in Avengers: Endgame, they were essentially unsanctioned vigilantes bankrolled by a rogue tech billionaire. Overall grade: B- Next up is Ironheart, which came out in 2025. I'd say Ironheart was about 40% very weird and 60% quite good. It's sort of like the modern version of Dr. Faustus. The show got some flak on the Internet from the crossfire between the usual culture war people, but the key to understanding it is to realize that Riri Williams AKA Ironheart is in fact an antihero who's tottering on the edge of becoming a full-blown supervillain. Like Tony Stark, she's a once-in-a-generation scientific talent, but while she doesn't have Stark's alcohol problems, she's emotionally unstable, immature, ruthless, indifferent to collateral damage and consequences, and suffering from severe PTSD after her best friend and stepfather were killed in a drive-by shooting. This volatile mix gets her thrown out of MIT after her experiments cause too much destruction, and she has to go home to Chicago. To get the funds to keep working on her Iron Man armor, she turns to crime, and falls in with a gang of high-end thieves led by a mysterious figure named Hood. It turns out that Hood has actual magic powers, which both disturbs and fascinates Riri. However, Hood got his magic in a pact with a mysterious dark force. When a job goes bad, Riri gains the enmity of Hood and has to go on the run. It also turns out Hood's dark master has become very interested in Riri, which might be a lot more dangerous for everyone in the long run. Overall, I'd say this is about in the same vein as Agatha All Along, an interesting show constructed around a very morally questionable protagonist. Overall grade: B Next up is A Minecraft movie, which came out in 2024. I have to admit, I've never actually played Minecraft, so I know very little about the game and its ecosystem, only what I've generally absorbed by glancing at the news. That said, I think the movie held together quite well, and wasn't deserving of the general disdain it got in the press. (No doubt the $950 million box office compensated for any hurt feelings.) One of the many downsides of rapid technological change in the last fifty years is that the Boomers and Gen X and the Millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alpha have had such radically different formative experiences in childhood that it's harder to relate to each other. Growing up in the 1980s was a wildly different experience than growing up in the 2010s, and growing up in the 2010s was an even more wildly different experience than growing up in the 1960s. Smartphones and social media were dominant in 2020, barely starting in 2010, and implausible science fiction in 2000 and earlier, and so it was like the different generations grew up on different planets, because in some sense they actually did. (A five-year-old relative of mine just started school, and the descriptions of his school compared to what I remember of school really do sound like different planets entirely.) The Minecraft game and A Minecraft Movie might be one of those generation-locked experiences. Anyway, this has gotten very deep digression for what was essentially a portal-based LitRPG movie. A group of people experiencing various life difficulties in a rural Idaho town get sucked into the Minecraft world through a magic portal. There they must combine forces and learn to work together to master the Minecraft world to save it from an evil sorceress. As always, the fundamental question of any movie is the one that Russell Crowe's character shouted to the audience in Gladiator back in 2000. “Are you not entertained?” I admit I was entertained when watching A Minecraft Movie since it was funny and I recognized a lot of the video game mechanics, even though I've never actually played Minecraft. Like, Castlevania II had a night/day cycle the way Minecraft does, and Castlevania II was forty years ago. But that was another digression! I did enjoy A Minecraft Movie. It was kind of crazy, but it committed to the craziness and maintained a consistent creative vision, and I was entertained. Though I did think it was impressive how Jack Black's agent managed to insist that he sing several different times. Overall grade: B Next up is Back to School, which came out in 1986 and this is one of the better ‘80s comedies I've seen. Rodney Dangerfield plays Thornton Melon, who never went to college and is the wealthy owner of a chain of plus-sized clothing stores. His son Jason is attending Great Lakes University, and after Thornton's unfaithful gold-digging wife leaves him (Thornton is mostly relieved by this development), he decides to go visit his son. He quickly discovers that Jason is flailing at college, and decides to enroll to help out his son. Wacky adventures ensue! I quite enjoyed this. The fictional “Great Lakes University” was largely shot at UW-Madison in Wisconsin, which I found amusing because I spent a lot of time at UW-Madison several decades ago as a temporary IT employee. I liked seeing the characters walk past a place where I'd eat lunch outside when the day was nice, that kind of thing. Also, I'm very familiar with how the sausage gets made in higher ed. There's a scene where the dean is asking why Thornton is qualified to enter college, and then it cuts to the dean cheerfully overseeing the groundbreaking of the new Thornton Melon Hall which Thornton just donated, and I laughed so hard I almost hurt myself, because that is exactly how higher ed works. The movie had some pointless nudity, but it was only a few seconds and no doubt gets cut in network broadcasts. Overall grade: B Next up is Whiskey Galore, which came out in 1949 and this is a comedy set in Scotland during World War II. The villagers living on an isolated island have no whiskey due to wartime rationing. However, when a government ship carrying 50,000 cases of whiskey runs aground near the island, wacky hijinks ensue. I have to admit the first half of the movie was very slow and deliberate, gradually setting up all the pieces for later. Then, once the shipwreck happens, things pick up and the movie gets much funnier. Definitely worth watching both as a good comedy movie and an artifact of its time. A modicum of historical knowledge is required – if you don't know what the Home Guard is, you might have to do some Googling to understand the context of some of the scenes. Regrettably, the version I watched did not have captioning, so I had to pay really close attention to understand what the characters were saying, because some of the accents were very strong. Overall grade: B Next up is Happy Gilmore 2, which came out in 2025. This was dumb and overstuffed with celebrity cameos but thoroughly hilarious and I say this even though it uses one of my least favorite story tropes, namely “hero of previous movie is now a middle age loser.” However, the movie leads into it for comedy. When Happy Gilmore accidentally kills his wife with a line drive, he spirals into alcoholism and despair. But his five children still love him, and when his talented daughter needs tuition for school, Happy attempts to shake off his despair and go back to golf to win the money. But Happy soon stumbles onto a sinister conspiracy led by an evil CEO to transform the game of golf into his own personal profit center. Happy must team up with his old nemesis Shooter McGavin to save golf itself from the evil CEO. Amusingly, as I've said before, the best Adam Sandler movies are almost medieval. In medieval fables, it was common for a clever peasant to outwit pompous lords, corrupt priests, and greedy merchants. The best Adam Sandler protagonist remains an everyman who outwits the modern equivalent of pompous lords and corrupt priests, in this case an evil CEO. Overall grade: B+ Next up is Superman, which came out in 2025 and I thought this was pretty good and very funny at times. I think it caught the essential nature of Superman. Like, Superman should be a Lawful Good character. If he was a Dungeons and Dragons character, he would be a paladin. People on the Internet tend to take the characterization of superheroes seriously to perhaps an unhealthy degree, but it seems the best characterization of Superman is as an earnest, slightly dorky Boy Scout who goes around doing good deeds. The contrast of that good-hearted earnestness with his godlike abilities that would allow him to easily conquer and rule the world is what makes for an interesting character. I also appreciated how the movie dispensed with the overused trope of the Origin Story and just got down to business. In this movie, Lex Luthor is obsessed with destroying Superman and is willing to use both super-advanced technology and engineered geopolitical conflict to do it. Superman, because he's essentially a decent person, doesn't comprehend just how depraved Luthor is, and how far Luthor is willing to go out of petty spite. (Ironically, a billionaire willing to destroy the world out of petty spite is alas, quite realistic). Guy Gardener (“Jerkish Green Lantern”) and the extremely competent and the extremely exasperated Mr. Terrific definitely stole all their scenes. The director of the movie, James Gunn, was quite famously fired from Disney in 2018 for offensive jokes he had made on Twitter back when he was an edgy young filmmaker with an alcohol problem. I suppose Mr. Gunn can rest content knowing that Superman made more money than any Marvel movie released this year. Overall grade: A- Next up is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which came out in 1988. This was a very strange movie, but nonetheless, one with an ambitious premise, strong performances, and a strong artistic vision. It's set in post WWII Los Angeles, and “toons” (basically cartoon characters) live and work alongside humans. Private eye Eddie Valiant hates toons since one of them killed his brother five years ago. However, he's hired by the head of a studio who's having trouble with one of his toon actors, Roger Rabbit. Roger's worried his wife Jessica is having an affair, and Valiant obtains pictures of Jessica playing patty cake (not a euphemism, they actually were playing patty cake) with another man. Roger has an emotional breakdown, and soon the other man winds up dead, and Roger insists he's innocent. Valiant and Roger find themselves sucked into a dangerous conspiracy overseen by a ruthless mastermind. This movie was such an interesting cultural artifact. It perfectly follows the structure of a ‘40s film noir movie, but with cartoons, and the dissonance between film noir and the cheerfulness of the toons was embraced and used as a frequently source of comedy. In fact, when the grim and dour Valiant uses the toons' comedy techniques as a tactical improvisation in a moment of mortal peril, it's both hilarious and awesome. Christopher Lloyd's performance as the villainous Judge Doom was amazing. (I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he's villainous, because his character is named Judge Doom and he's literally wearing a black hat.) Like, his performance perfectly captures something monstrous that is trying very hard to pretend to be human and not quite getting it right. And the amount of work it must have taken to make this movie staggers the mind. Nowadays, having live actors interact with cartoon characters is expensive, but not unduly so. It's a frequent technique. You see it all the time in commercials when a housewife is smiling at an animated roll of paper towels or something, and Marvel's essentially been doing it for years. But this was 1988! Computer animation was still a ways off. They had to shoot the movie on analog film, and then hand-draw all the animation and successfully match it to the live film. It wouldn't have worked without the performance of Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, who plays everything perfectly straight in the same way Michael Caine did in A Muppet Christmas Carol. So kind of a strange movie, but definitely worth watching. And it has both Disney and Warner Brothers animated characters in the same movie, which is something we will never, ever see again. Overall grade: A Next up is K-Pop Demon Hunters, which came out in 2025. Like Who framed Roger Rabbit?, this is a very strange movie, but nonetheless with a clear and focused artistic vision. It is a cultural artifact that provides a fascinating look into a world of which I have no knowledge or interest, namely K-pop bands and their dueling fandoms. Anyway, the plot is that for millennia, female Korean musicians have used the magic of their voices to keep the demons locked away in a demon world. The current incarnation is a three-woman K-Pop group called Huntrix, and they are on the verge of sealing away the demons forever. Naturally, the Demon King doesn't like this, so one of his cleverer minions comes up with a plan. They'll start a Demon K-Pop Boy Band! Disguised as humans, the demon K-Pop group will win away Huntrix's fans, allowing them to breach the barrier and devour the world. However, one of the Huntrix musicians is half-demon, and she starts falling for the lead demon in the boy band, who is handsome and of course has a dark and troubled past. Essentially a musical K-drama follows. I have to admit I know practically nothing about K-Pop groups and their dueling fandoms, other than the fact that they exist. However, this was an interesting movie to watch. The animation was excellent, it did have a focused vision, and there were some funny bits. Overall grade: A Next up is Clarkson's Farm Season Four, which came out in 2025. A long time ago in the ‘90s, I watched the episode of Frasier where Frasier and Niles attempt to open a restaurant and it all goes horribly (yet hilariously) wrong. At the time, I had no money, but I promised myself that I would never invest in a restaurant. Nothing I have seen or learned in the subsequent thirty years has ever changed that decision. Season 4 of Clarkson's Farm is basically Jeremy Clarkson, like Frasier and Niles, attempting to open a restaurant, specifically a British pub. On paper it's a good idea, since Clarkson can provide the pub with food produced from his own farm and other local farmers. However, it's an enormous logistical nightmare, and Clarkson must deal with miles of red tape, contractors, and a ballooning budget, all while trying to keep his farm from going under. An excellent and entertaining documentary into the difficulties of both the farming life and food service. I still don't want to own a restaurant! Overall grade: A Next up is Tombstone, which came out in 1993. The Western genre of fiction is interesting because it's limited to such a very specific period of time and geographical region. Like the “Wild West” period that characterizes the Western genre really only lasted as a historical period from about 1865 to roughly 1890. The Western genre was at its most popular in movies from the 1940s and the 1960s, and I wonder if it declined because cultural and demographic changes made it unpopular to romanticize the Old West the way someone like Walt Disney did at Disneyland with “Frontierland.” Of course, the genre lives on in different forms in grittier Western movies, neo-Westerns like Yellowstone and Longmire, and a lot of the genre's conventions apply really well to science fiction. Everyone talks about Firefly being the first Space Western, but The Mandalorian was much more successful and was basically a Western in space (albeit with occasional visits from Space Wizards). Anyway! After that long-winded introduction, let's talk about Tombstone. When Val Kilmer died earlier this year, the news articles mentioned Tombstone as among his best work, so I decided to give it a watch. The plot centers around Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell, who has decided to give up his career in law enforcement and move to Tombstone, Arizona, a silver mining boomtown, in hopes of making his fortune. However, Tombstone is mostly controlled by the Cowboys outlaw gang, and Earp is inevitably drawn into conflict with them. With the help of his brothers and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer's character), Earp sets out to bring some law and order to Tombstone, whether the Cowboys like it or not. Holliday is in the process of dying from tuberculosis, which makes him a formidable fighter since he knows getting shot will be a less painful and protracted death than the one his illness will bring him. Kilmer plays him as a dissolute, scheming warrior-poet who nonetheless is a very loyal friend. Definitely a classic of the Western genre, and so worth watching. Overall grade: A Next up is Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the eighth Mission Impossible movie. Of the eight movies, I think the sixth one was the best one, but this one comes in at a close second. It continues on from Dead Reckoning. Ethan Hunt now possesses the key that will unlock the source code of the Entity, the malicious AI (think ChatGPT, but even more obviously evil) that is actively maneuvering the world's nuclear powers into destroying each other so the Entity can rule the remnants of humanity. Unfortunately, the Entity's source code is sitting in a wrecked Russian nuclear sub at the bottom of the Bering Sea. Even more unfortunately, the Entity knows that Hunt has the key and is trying to stop him, even as the Entity's former minion and Hunt's bitter enemy Gabriel seeks to seize control of the Entity for himself. A sense of apocalyptic doom hangs over the movie, which works well to build tension. Once again, the world is doomed, unless Ethan Hunt and his allies can save the day. The tension works extremely well during the movie's underwater sequence, and the final airborne duel between Hunt and Gabriel. I don't know if they're going to make any more Mission Impossible movies after this (they are insanely expensive), but if this is the end, it is a satisfying conclusion for the character of Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Mission Force. Overall grade: A Next up is Deep Cover, which came out in 2025. This is described as a comedy thriller, and I didn't know what to expect when I watched it, but I really enjoyed it. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Kat, a struggling comedy improv teacher living in London. Her best students are Marlon (played by Orlando Bloom), a dedicated character actor who wants to portray gritty realism but keeps getting cast in tacky commercials, and Hugh (played by Nick Mohammed), an awkward IT worker with no social skills whatsoever. One day, the three of them are recruited by Detective Sergeant Billings (played by Sean Bean) of the Metropolitan Police. The Met wants to use improv comedians to do undercover work for minor busts with drug dealers. Since it plays 200 pounds a pop, the trio agrees. Of course, things rapidly spiral out of control, because Kat, Marlon, and Hugh are actually a lot better at improv than they think, and soon they find themselves negotiating with the chief criminals of the London underworld. What follows is a movie that is both very tense and very funny. Kat, Marlon, and Hugh are in way over their heads, and will have to do the best improv of their lives to escape a very grisly fate. Whether Sean Bean dies or not (as is tradition), you will just have to watch the movie and find out. Overall grade: A Next up is Puss in Boots: The Final Wish, which came out in 2022. I don't personally know much about the history of Disney as a corporation, and I don't much care, but I do have several relatives who are very interested in the history of the Disney corporation, and therefore I have picked up some by osmosis. Apparently Disney CEO Michael Eisner forcing out Jeffrey Katzenberg in the 1990s was a very serious mistake, because Katzenberg went on to co-found DreamWorks, which has been Disney's consistent rival for animation for the last thirty years. That's like “CIA Regime Change Blowback” levels of creating your own enemy. Anyway, historical ironies aside, Puss in Boots: The Final Wish was a funny and surprisingly thoughtful animated movie. Puss in Boots is a legendary outlaw and folk hero, but he has used up eight of his nine lives. An ominous bounty hunter who looks like a humanoid wolf begins pursuing him, and the Wolf is able to shrug off the best of Puss In Boots' attacks. Panicked, Puss hides in a retirement home for elderly cats, but then hears rumors of the magical Last Wish. Hoping to use it to get his lives back, Puss In Boots sets off on the quest. It was amusing how Little Jack Horner and Goldilocks and the Three Bears were rival criminal gangs seeking the Last Wish. Overall grade: A Next up is Chicken People, which came out in 2016. A good documentary film gives you a glimpse into an alien world that you would otherwise never visit. In this example, I have absolutely no interest in competitive chicken breeding and will only raise chickens in my backyard if society ever collapses to the level that it becomes necessary for survival. That said, this was a very interesting look into the work of competitive chicken breeding. Apparently, there is an official “American Standard of Perfection” for individual chicken breeds, and the winner of the yearly chicken competition gets the title “Super Grand Champion.” Not Grand Champion, Super Grand Champion! That looks impressive on a resume. It is interesting how chicken breeding is in some sense an elaborate Skinner Box – like you can deliberately set out to breed chickens with the desirable traits on the American Standard of Perfection, but until the chickens are hatched and grow up, you don't know how they're going to turn out, so you need to try again and again and again… Overall grade: A Next up is The Mask of Zoro, which came out in 1998. I saw this in the theatre when it came out 27 years ago, but that was 27 years ago, and I don't have much of a memory of it, save that I liked it. So when I had the chance to watch it again, I did! Anthony Hopkins plays Diego de la Vega, who has the secret identity of Zorro in the final days before Mexico breaks away from the Spanish Empire. With Mexico on the verge of getting its independence, Diego decides to hang up his sword and mask and focus on his beloved wife and daughter. Unfortunately, the military governor Don Montero realizes Diego is Zorro, so has him arrested, kills his wife, and steals his baby daughter to raise as his own. Twenty years later, a bandit named Alejandro loses his brother and best friends to a brutal cavalry commander. It turns out that Montero is returning to California from Spain, and plans to seize control of California as an independent republic (which, of course, will be ruled by him). In the chaos, Diego escapes from prison and encounters a drunken Alejandro, and stops him from a futile attack upon the cavalry commander. He then proposes a pact – Diego will train Alejandro as the next Zorro, and together they can take vengeance upon the men who wronged them. This was a good movie. It was good to see that my taste in movies 27 years ago wasn't terrible. It manages to cram an entire epic plot into only 2 hours and 20 minutes. In some ways it was like a throwback to a ‘40s movie but with modern (for the ‘90s) production values, and some very good swordfights. Overall grade: A Next up is Wick is Pain, which came out in 2025. I've seen all four John Wick movies and enjoyed them thoroughly, though I've never gotten around to any of the spinoffs. Wick is Pain is a documentary about how John Wick went from a doomed indie movie with a $6.5 million hole in its budget to one of the most popular action series of the last few decades. Apparently Keanu Reeves made an offhand joke about how “Wick is pain” and that became the mantra of the cast and crew, because making an action movie that intense really was a painful experience. Definitely worth watching if you enjoyed the John Wick movies or moviemaking in general. Overall grade: A The last movie I saw this summer was Game Night, which came out in 2016. It was a hilarious, if occasionally dark comedy action thriller. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play Max and Annie Davis, a married couple who are very competitive and enjoy playing games of all kinds. Jason has an unresolved conflict with his brother Brooks, and one night Brooks invites them over for game night, which Max resents. Halfway through the evening, Brooks is kidnapped, with Max and Annie assume is part of the game. However, Brooks really is involved in something shady. Hilarity ensues, and it's up to Max and Annie to rescue Brooks and stay alive in the process. This was really funny, though a bit dark in places. That said, Max and Annie have a loving and supportive marriage, so it was nice to see something like that portrayed on the screen. Though this also leads to some hilarity, like when Annie accidentally shoots Max in the arm. No spoilers, but the punchline to that particular sequence was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Overall grade: A So no A+ movie this time around, but I still saw a bunch of solid movies I enjoyed. One final note, I have to admit, I've really come to respect Adam Sandler as an entertainer, even if his movies and comedy are not always to my taste. He makes what he wants, makes a lot of money, ensures that his friends get paid, and then occasionally takes on a serious role in someone else's movie when he wants to flex some acting muscles. I am not surprised that nearly everyone who's in the original Happy Gilmore who was still alive wanted to come back for Happy Gilmore 2. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show enjoyable and perhaps a guide to some good movies to watch. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.
Listen, over here at the Reel Film Chronicles, we adore a good super hero movie. We're instinctively drawn to them - every theatrical release, each direct to streaming movie - but we're getting a bit worn out. Superhero fatigue, Disney+ MCU series, etc. We've got a lot to say about the industry, what's grinding our gears, but also what we really enjoy. With a focus on the newest Captain America movie, we find light within the dark, and I say this simply because I really haven't seen any positive discussions about the movie. Well, in this podcast episode we nearly get there. Regardless, this was a fun one to do, and we hope you forgive us for the long hiatus. I promise we have more episodes in progress and a loose plan to record some more soon. Thanks for listening and supporting us!Captain America: Brave New World (2025)Directed by: Julius OnahStarring: Anthony Mackie - Harrison Ford - Danny Ramirez - Shira Haas - Tim Blake NelsonGenres: science fiction - action - thrillerRuntime: 119 minutesOur Website: Reel Film ChroniclesOur Letterboxd Profiles: Brian | NathanNathan's Site: Feed the VoicesLetterboxd | IMDbEpisode 93Captain America: Brave New World
VOTE ON WHAT WE WATCH NEXT!!! Welcome to the 208th episode of The Castle Vault! In this week's journey exploring the famed Disney Vault through the Disney Plus streaming service, we soar to new heights with ... Captain America: Brave New World! In this episode, we continue our "catch-up" series of films and shows of the MCU with the newest Captain America movie, Brave New World! We finally get to see Sam Wilson as Captain America on the big screen - but was it worth the wait? Was the Red Hulk as awesome as it should have been? And where will it land on The Hierarchy? All this and more in Episode 208 of the Castle Vault! Stay magical, friends. Show Rundown Intro Housekeeping #CastleVaultCooking - Wild west food Disney Plus check-in Count the Clicks The Castle Vault - Captain America: Brave New World (2025) Comic Connections Hierarchy of Heroes Villains Be Chillin' Super Sidekicks Marvelous Moments The Mixtape THE HIERARCHY Allusions ... Assemble Where Post Credit is Due By The Numbers Lorcana Lowdown eBay Expedition I Spy... Five Fun Facts Tough Trivia Question Emails We Recommend! NEXT WEEK'S MOVIE IS: Thunderbolts* (2025) Want to contact us? Jason: @JasonInquires (Twitter and Instagram) & @JasonTCV (Twitter)/ @Jason_TCV (Instagram) Josh: @TheNoyse (Twitter and Instagram) & YouTube: https://youtube.com/@makingnoyse?si=9ujY4-RxrV_rMjBn Show: @TheCastleVault (Twitter and Instagram) Email: TheCastleVault@gmail.com TheCastleVault.com
We're talking the continued struggles of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this week's episode of (Not So) Live from Asteroid G. Fantastic Four: First Steps failed to meet expectations at the Box Office, just like Thunderbolts* before it, and Captain America: Brave New World before that. Is this indicative of a trend? We think so, but come hear more about it...
It's time to rank every single project from Marvel's Phase 5! In this episode, we break down and rank all the MCU Phase 5 movies and Disney Plus shows, from the weakest entries to the absolute best. Expect debates, laughs, and passionate arguments as we count down from #15 all the way to #1. We cover the biggest Marvel Phase 5 projects including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Daredevil: Born Again, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, What If…? Season 2 & 3, and more. Which MCU projects soared, and which ones fell flat? We don't hold back! Before our ranking, we kick things off with a cold open about the upcoming Lego Batman game: Legacy of the Dark Knight and dive into gaming talk with the ROG Ally X handheld console vs the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch. If you're an MCU fan, comic book reader, or pop culture nerd, this is the episode for you. Whether you agree or disagree with our ranking, you'll have fun joining the debate.
The discussion revolves around the recent underperformance of Marvel properties, specifically "Fantastic Four: First Steps" and the promotion of "Eyes of Wakanda." Despite the anticipation surrounding these properties, both have failed to meet industry expectations, with "Eyes of Wakanda" receiving little promotion and "Fantastic Four" being criticized for its marketing strategy. The speakers analyze the current state of the film-going experience, noting a decline in audience engagement despite some films still turning a profit, including upcoming titles like "Thunderbolts" and "Captain America: Brave New World." They delve into the complexities of viewer expectations and the evolving landscape of superhero cinema, questioning the factors contributing to this perceived downturn in the cinematic experience.
Legends of S.H.I.E.L.D.: An Unofficial Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fan Podcast
Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Fumbles (Lauren), Agent Dribbles (Michelle), and Agent Waffles (Chris) discuss and review the 2025 Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Captain America: Brave New World." Discord Server: http://www.gonnageek.com/discord Legends Of SHIELD Podcast Theme: “Great Marvels Of The World” by lynnepublishing https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/114134177-great-marvels-world-30-secs-v2-adventure-amazement-epic-gran Play Comics Podcast https://playcomics.com Michelle on X https://www.x.com/Chelle_Game Lauren's Voice Services: http://www.lwsalinas.com Lauren on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sithwitch.bsky.social This podcast was recorded on Saturday, March 1st, 2025. Audio production by SP Rupert of GonnaGeek.com. Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a proud member of the GonnaGeek.com podcast network. *All music played during this video was legally purchased and obtained from royalty free sources https://www.Pond5.com, https:/audiojungle.net and https:/incompetech.com Support Legends of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Marvel Studios TV & Film Fan Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/legendsofshield
Hey Friends, Join Jake as he discusses the 2025 MCU film, Captain America: Brave New World. Starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Tim Blake Nelson, Carl Lumbly, Shira Haas, Harrison Ford and Giancarlo Esposito.
We review Captain America: Brave New World starring Anthony Mackie!
It's a solo show this week on So Many Sequels as David breaks down the box office winners and losers for the weekend of August 1st, 2025. July was full of massive releases, but which films are actually holding strong, and which ones are crashing fast?Fantastic Four: First Steps takes a steep dive in its second weekend, but how does it compare to this year's other Marvel titles, like Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts? Meanwhile, Superman continues to fly high with a global total over $550M, and Jurassic World Rebirth hits a milestone in week five.Plus, we look at strong debuts for The Bad Guys 2, The Naked Gun, and NEON's unsettling body-horror flick Together. Is this one of the most competitive box office weekends of the year? David's got the full report.
Note: We like our language NSFW salty, and there be spoilers here...Face Front, True Believer! Diabolu Frank, Illegal Machine, and Mr. José Fixit haven't kept up with recording on all the new Marvel media this year, so you're getting a king-sized helping of shorter takes. Among the notices are Marvel Studios' Captain America: Brave New World (2025,) The Marvels (2023,) & Thunderbolts* (2025); Hulu's Hit-Monkey Season 2 (2024); Disney+'s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025,) Ironheart (2025,) & Eyes of Wakanda (2025); Netflix's Iron Fist (2017-2018) & The Defenders (2017); and somehow Lionsgate's The Crow (2024)? Excelsior!#MarvelSHPFriend us on FacebookRoll through our tumblrEmail us at rolledspinepodcasts@gmail.comTweet us as a group @rolledspine, or individually as Diabolu Frank & Illegal Machine. Fixit don't tweet.If The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast Blogger page isn't your bag, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts Wordpress blog.
You didn't think we'd go radio silent for August, did you? While we toil away at the next phase of our show, we'll be keeping the party going by releasing a few of our favorite bonus episodes — usually exclusive to our Patreon — onto the main feed. Enjoy! Sign up at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton to enjoy more goofy nonsense like this. Originally published to Patreon on February 16th, 2025. On this episode, D&D stray from the path and grant one Patron's wish: to create a Dark Universe version of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods! Dalton has an unexpected reaction to one of Trek fandom's least favorite features, and Dylan auditions Audition! Heads up that we will be FULLY spoiling Audition. PLUS: The hosts try to agree on when the last good Marvel movie was. TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Intro and Dylan's Makeover 00:02:34 - Bev Check 00:07:42 - Dylan & Dalton At Da Movies - Babygirl, Flow, Emilia Perez, The Brutalist, Captain America: Brave New World 00:18:52 - When was the last good Marvel movie? 00:23:54 - Studio Mandates - Into the Woods 00:54:33 - Treks Education - Star Trek: Insurrection 01:08:37 - Dalton's updated Trek rankings 01:12:12 - The Dalterion Collection - Audition FULL SPOILERS
On today's episode of The Kristian Harloff Show, Kristian Harloff and Steph Sabraw dive into some HUGE updates from the world of superheroes and fantasy! The biggest story? James Gunn may have just confirmed that he's already working on Superman 2 — even though he previously hinted that there wouldn't be a traditional sequel. What does this mean for the DCU and Superman's future after the first film? We break it all down and look at his comments. We also revisit James Gunn's clarification of what's canon in the new DCU, as he continues to reshape the future of DC storytelling. Over in the MCU, Harrison Ford was asked if he'll return after Captain America: Brave New World — and his response? Classic Ford. Plus, Alison Brie talks about the new Masters of the Universe live-action movie, saying it might be just as campy as the ‘80s cartoon. And in House of the Dragon Season 3 news, Annie Shapero joins the cast as Alysanne Blackwood — one of the saga's fiercest warriors!
What's Playing at Alamo Drafthouse St. Louis This August 2025 Get ready for the MOSTLY MOVIE PHONE rundown of August movies at Alamo Drafthouse St. Louis! Hosts Logan Janis and Mark Bluestein, Special Programming Director and Presentation and Programming Manager at Alamo, dive into upcoming screenings and recent movie discussions. Catch the full episode by searching "Mostly Superheroes podcast" on Google, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and of course, mostlysuperheroes.com. Thanks to our fans, patrons, and sponsors for making this indie podcast possible! www.drafthouse.com/st-louis August Highlights at Alamo Drafthouse St. Louis Recent Buzz: Superman: Still a hit, with some debate on Lois Lane's casting. Fantastic Four: Excitement builds for the new film, recalling past versions and Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards. Marvel's Comeback? A discussion on Marvel's resurgence with films like Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World. August 2025 Lineup (1994-1995 Theme): Week of August 1st: Samurai Series: Seven Samurai, The Tale of Zatoichi (with "Ghost of Tsushima" popcorn bucket!). "Clueless" Movie Party: Interactive fun with props. "Tales from the Hood": Adult horror from 1994. "Sergeant Kabuki Man, NYPD": 4K remaster of a Troma classic. Second Week of August: "Lady Snow Blood": A must-see samurai film. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Original Movie): Both kid-friendly and adult-only showings! "Party Girl": A 90s date movie with Parker Posey. Week of August 14th: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem": Kids' camp special. "Elvis: That's the Way It Is": Early 70s concert film, selling out fast! Don't forget the Alamo Season Pass! For only $19.99, get unlimited movies! Future Previews: Alamo Drafthouse will also be a premiere theater for Spike Lee's new movie Highest to Lowest, followed by a Spike Lee trilogy starting with Malcolm X. ©2025 Carrogan Ventures, LLC
It's a testament to how generally good (or at least passable) the MCU films have been, that there have been 36 of them released, but this is only the second one we've covered. What makes Captain America: Brave New World so (anti-) special? You'll have to listen to find out!Wikipedia page for Captain America: Brave New WorldRecommended in this episode:Dan: Jaws (1975) Stu: Hider in the House (1989)Elliott: Roman Holiday (1953)Head to squarespace.com/FLOP for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use OFFER CODE: FLOP to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Chris and Erik are back at it with another random episode...MCU Catch-Up: "Thunderbolts", "Captain America: Brave New World", and "Daredevil: Born Again"Ultimate Spider-man (2024)X-Men: The Krakoa EraPitch Ideas - Event Books: "Kingpin Takes the Marvel Universe" (Erik) and "Acts of Vengeance 2" (Chris)Mount Rushmore: Spider-man VillainsEssential Reads: Captain America(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)Check out our blog at ComicZombie.net for more! Follow us on Social Media:Instagram: @ComicZombiePodcastBlueSky: @ComicZombieNetwork InfoThis podcast is a production of the We Can Make This Work (Probably) Network. Follow us below to keep up with this show and discover our many other podcasts – including: Epik Fails of History, 2 Young 4 This Trek, and Podcasters Assemble!Twitter | Facebook| Instagram: @probablyworkwww.probablywork.com Email: ProbablyWorkPod@gmail.com
This week Sean has a spoiler free reivew of Superman, and Quarterback on Netflix, we discuss The Old Guard, Ian watches Captain America: Brave New World, and a documetary about the Poop Cruse plus so much more
With another Superman movie flying into theaters, the Plugged In team examines the Superman character, the phenomenon, and why this superhero has stood the test of time. They also talk a bit about Mario Kart World, a new/old favorite game that’s landed on Nintendo’s newest platform, the Switch 2. Then, they will reveal a little secret about The Plugged In Show. Click here to get your copy of the Plugged In team’s outstanding book Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family! Connect with us! www.ThePluggedInShow.com Connect on Facebook Find us on Instagram EMAIL: team@thepluggedinshow.com PHONE: 800-A-FAMILY (800-262-3459) Read the full review: · Superman · Superman Returns · Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice · DC League of Super Pets · Justice League · Zack Snyder’s Justice League · Man of Steel · Guardians of the Galaxy · Guardians of the Galaxy 2 · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 · Captain America: The First Avenger · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · Captain America: Brave New World · Batman Begins · The Batman · Mario Kart World · Mario Kart 8 The Plugged In Tech Guide Focus on the Family with Jim Daly Episode: How Your Family Can Manage Technology Well Part 1 How You Can Make Wise Entertainment Choices for Your Family Donate Now! We'd love to hear from you! Visit our Homepage to leave us a voicemail. If you've listened to any of our podcasts, please give us your feedback.
Find the 9 Points Rating System here: https://www.alostplot.com/9-points/ Find our Captain America: Brave New World review here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/maverick51411/episodes/2025-02-20T23_49_47-08_00 In this episode of Lost Plot, hosts Maverick and Avalon delve into the 2008 film 'The Incredible Hulk,' discussing its soundtrack, character development, and the portrayal of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. They analyze the film's opening scene, the tension (or lack thereof) in the narrative, and the motivations of the villains, Thaddeus Ross and Blonsky. The conversation also touches on the themes of self-acceptance and the lasting impact of the film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.----------Highlights:0:00 ‘The Incredible Hulk' Introduction5:39 Opening Scene10:15 Edward Norton's Bruce Banner15:25 Liv Tyler as Betty Ross19:34 Thaddeus Ross and Blonsky aka Abomination31:02 Themes and Messages35:22 Lasting Impact#hulk #theincrediblehulk #brucebanner #edwardnorton #livtyler #bettyross #thaddeusross #thunderboltross #alostplot #filmthoughts #film #moviereview #mcu #marvelstudios
Find the 9 Points Rating System here: https://www.alostplot.com/9-points/ Find the Captain America: Brave New World review here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/maverick51411/episodes/2025-02-20T23_49_47-08_00 In this episode, Maverick and Andrew review the 2021 Marvel film 'Eternals', discussing its plot, character dynamics, and overarching themes. They explore the film's attempt to tackle grand ideas such as godhood and responsibility, while critiquing its storytelling and character development. The conversation delves into the strengths and weaknesses of various characters, the film's pacing, and the implications of its themes. They also reflect on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the importance of creating compelling new characters.----------Highlights:0:00 ‘Eternals' Introduction4:41 Opening Scene6:45 Sersi and the Eternal Crew12:16 The Deviants and Arishem the Celestial17:21 Ikaris The Conflicted Villain28:30 Film Conclusion and Themes31:57 Kingo and his Assistant as Comic Relief35:37 Sprite's Inner Conflict40:54 Druig The Mind Controller43:37 Thena and Gilgamesh49:25 Phastos the Super Engineer56:29 Ajak the Healer and Leader56:53 Black Knight and MCU's Story Choices#eternals #mcu #ikaris #sersi #celestials #arisham #deviants #alostplot #kingo #ajak #druig #thena #phastos #sprite #blackknight #kitharington #angelinajolie #richardmadden #gemmachan #madong-seok #salmahayek #kumailnanjiani #briantyreehenry #billskarsgard #film #filmthoughts
Mike and Champ return to discuss five titles from 2025. Topics include the moody, toe-tapping music and thrills of Sinners, the missed opportunities to dive into the political world of Marvel in Captain America: Brave New World, the authentic balancing act of tradition and drama in House of David and the overblown controversy of Disney's live action remake of Snow White. Also, the Ballad of Wallis Island is a feel-good gem that more people need to see.
Now we're current! This is our first of two MCU features released in the same year we're recording! The last time this happened was with Deadpool and Wolverine. Our original Big 3 have left and now we're starting to rebuild with new characters. What did y'all think of this first Cap film without Steve Rogers? TRACKLIST: 1:14 - Geek of the Week - Mark: Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning; Jasmin: Dandadan 27:16 - Film summary and fun facts 36:21 - Captain America: Brave New World (2025) review You can follow us on X, Facebook and Instagram or if you would like to support us you can donate to our KoFi.
This week we review and discuss "Captain America: Brave New World". What storylines does this film pick up? How do we feel about the Thaddeus Ross recast? Do we want more Captain America? All of that and more this week on Monoreel Radio. Join the conversation on social media @monoreelradio on all major platforms, or send us an email at monoreelradio@gmail.com. For links to anything you heard on the show, visit our website and if you want to experience the Disney magic for yourself, click here to start planning your next vacation.
Who's your favorite movie dad—and is he actually a good dad? This week, we celebrate Father's Day by debating the Mount Rushmore of movie dads. Is Marlin from Finding Nemo top-tier? What about Goofy? Or…Sean Connery in Indiana Jones?Plus, Josh reviews Dangerous Waters, a Jaws-meets-serial-killer thriller from Shudder. Garrett watched Mickey 17, Bong Joon-ho's latest sci-fi mind-bender. And we all have mixed feelings about Captain America: Brave New World—where's the heart, Marvel?THEN: Robert Eggers is directing a dark new Christmas Carol, and Spaceballs 2 is happening. Don't miss this jam-packed news update!
Cap is back with a political thriller! And Red Hulk! And Alessandra and Emily feeling like they are truly missing something important in the plot! We watched Captain America: Brave New World. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dean is back home in Birmingham, Michigan. Phil is at home in Los Angeles. They connect via Zoom to discuss the fire damage Dean witnessed while he was in L.A. last week, as well as his ongoing and evolving thoughts regarding Captain America: Brave New World which he caught up with on a flight. Phil […]
This week we're taking a look at Captain America: Brave New World. Set some time after the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson has now fully embraced his title as the new Captain America. Now Sam is summoned to the White House as the newly elected president Ross wants to work with him on rebuilding the Avengers. But trouble quickly ensues when Sam's friend Isaiah Bradley (the former and forgotten Captain America) uncontrollably tries to assassinate the president and is framed for the attempt. Now Sam and his partner Joaquin Torres must race against time to uncover the true culprit and foil an evil plot that unwittingly involves the President. Listen in and find out what we thought!
SO MUCH TO BREAK DOWN!! James Gunn finally speaks out on the Superman drama, addressing everything from box office projections and power scaling to that now-infamous VFX shot and why he intentionally made Superman vulnerable. In this week's Reel Rejects Podcast, Greg & the gang break down Gunn's candid remarks about Marvel's content struggles, Disney mandates, and his current Batman dilemma — including the future of the Matt Reeves / Robert Pattinson Batman, potential crossover, and why getting Batman right in the DCU is so difficult. We also cover 28 Years Later box office projections, fan reactions, and whether its darker tone and cliffhanger could hurt the sequel's future. Plus, F1's insane $200M–$300M budget, box office break-even targets, and the Tom Cruise hype engine. We talk Fantastic Four's confirmed lead-in to Avengers, concern over Marvel's Ironheart marketing (or lack of it), and the Saw rights returning to James Wan & Leigh Whannell — is a Blumhouse reboot on the way? Then the biggest news drops: Marvel Studios officially announces the director for the upcoming X-Men movie in the MCU! Upcoming DCU projects confirmed by DC Studios include: Superman (2025), Creature Commandos (animated), Waller (Viola Davis-led series), The Authority, Booster Gold, Lanterns (featuring Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Paradise Lost (Themyscira prequel series), The Brave and the Bold (new Batman & Damian Wayne movie), Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp Thing, and more unannounced Elseworlds films (The Batman Part II, Joker: Folie à Deux).Confirmed MCU projects include: Deadpool & Wolverine (2025), Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, Blade, Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (retitled Avengers: Doomsday), Avengers: Secret Wars, X-Men (TBA), Spider-Man 4, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Agatha All Along, Wonder Man, Armor Wars, Marvel Zombies, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. #Superman #JamesGunn #Xmen #Marvel #MCU #FantasticFour #Fantastic4 #BradPitt #28YearsLater #28DaysLater #Batman #TheBatman #Spiderman #Thunderbolts #Daredevil #BLumhouse #Jigsaw #Saw #Podcast #Review #Movie #moviereview Follow Coy Jandreau: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coyjandreau?l... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coyjandreau/?hl=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoyJandreau YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYH2szDTuU9ImFZ9gBRH8w Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad: Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM: FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Prepare-se para um episódio recheado de análises honestas e sem filtros dos piores (e mais questionáveis) lançamentos recentes nos streamings! No DerivadoCast de hoje, mergulhamos fundo nos filmes que prometiam muito e entregaram pouco, ajudando você a economizar seu precioso tempo.Discutimos a decepção que é "Capitão América: Admirável Mundo Novo" (Captain America: Brave New World) e o que isso significa para o futuro do MCU na Disney+. Além disso, detonamos uma série de produções do Prime Video, como o desnecessário "O Contador 2" e o confuso "Improvisação Perigosa". Sobrou até para o suspense que não decola, "Echo Valley", da Apple TV+.Será que algo se salva? Dê o play e descubra quais filmes você deve evitar a todo custo nesta semana!Neste episódio:Análise completa e crítica de Capitão América 4 (Admirável Mundo Novo).Os lançamentos da semana no Prime Video, Netflix e Apple TV+.Debate sobre a fase atual da Marvel e o futuro dos seus heróis.Críticas de filmes como O Contador 2, Improvisação Perigosa, Echo Valley e muito mais.⭐⭐ Avalie o DerivadoCast no Spotify e Apple Podcasts! ⭐⭐MINUTAGEM:00:00 - Início e apresentação dos temas polêmicos08:33 - Arouvengers: A interação com os nossos queridos ouvintes41:40 - TOP 10 do Xexéu: As listas que amamos44:39 - Crítica: Echo Valley (Apple TV+)49:49 - Expectativas para o novo Superman de James Gunn50:35 - Comentando o fenômeno Call Her Daddy 58:32 - Crítica: Os Sobreviventes (Netflix)1:00:58 - Crítica: Warfare: Tempo de Guerra (Prime Video)1:07:04 - Crítica: O Contador 2 (Prime Video)1:09:37 - Crítica: Improvisação Perigosa (Prime Video)1:10:47 - Crítica: A Melhor Irmã (Prime Video)1:12:25 - Análise Principal: Capitão América: Admirável Mundo Novo (Disney+)
In this episode, we discuss the 35th and 36th installments of the MCU...Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*...errr the New Avengers.Give it a listen and let us know what you think.Please subscribe, rate, and review!
Tebbs and Corm are back shouting at more clouds this time Captain America: Brave New World review Tebbs risks another lawsuit Lamprey cooked in what??North Wrestling Corm protects terrorists. enjoy!
We're back with some more Andor talk, wrapping up the series and second season!But first, we've now all seen Captain America: Brave New World... what did we think!?We take a deep dive into both, talking about the MCU and everything Star Wars and why a show like Andor deserves your attention!
In this episode, we dives deep into Captain America: Brave New World—now streaming on Disney+. Was this movie necessary, or just another MCU filler?We unpack what actually worked (Sam's new Cap suit! Adamantium! The Red Hulk!), what fell flat (Torres' comic relief, stiff dialogue, too many news breaks), and what this film is really setting up for—yes, we're talking Secret Wars, X-Men, and Eternals connections.Did the story of Isaiah Bradley finally get the justice it deserved? Are Ruth Bat-Seraph and Leila Taylor characters we'll ever see again?Join us for this spoiler-heavy, MCU-literate breakdown, where we ask the question the film never answers: Did we really need this movie?Comment below with your favorite and least favorite scenes—and don't forget to subscribe for weekly breakdowns with the father-son team bringing generational heat to geek culture.
MCU tries to reset, Murderbot tries to escape emotional damage. This week on the podcast, Brian and Darryl break down Captain America: Brave New World, where Sam Wilson's shield meets political paranoia and a very red, very angry Hulk. Then it's back into the soap-operatic arms of Murderbot, as Episode 5 serves up sabotage, sass, and an unexpected anatomy lesson. One's trying to save the world, the other just wants to be left alone with their shows—and honestly, we relate. Episode Index Intro: 0:07 Murderbot: Virtue Signal: Brave New World: Murderbot (AppleTV) Episode 5: “Rogue War Tracker Infinite Summary After a near-fatal reprogramming, Murderbot is saved by the PresAux team and meets Leebeebee—the lone DeltFall survivor—who hilariously fixates on Murderbot's… anatomy. Meanwhile, Murderbot reveals it's hacked its governor module and asserts its loyalty to the crew. Cliffhanger: sabotage at the distress beacon. Director: Paul Weitz Writers: Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz Cast: Alexander Skarsgård (Murderbot) Noma Dumezweni (Dr. Mensah) David Dastmalchian (Gurathin) Sabrina Wu (Pin‑Lee) Akshay Khanna (Ratthi) Tattiawna Jones (Arada) + Guest Star: Anna Konkle (Leebeebee) Airdate: June 6, 2025  Rating: Out of 5 audacious anatomy monologue and Murderbot's rogue autonomy declaration. Darryl: 3.5/5 Brian: 3.45/5 Captain America: Brave New World (2025) Summary Five months after Ross becomes president, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Joaquin Torres thwart a weapons smuggling plot in Mexico. Sidewinder escapes, leading to a deeper conspiracy tied to global geopolitics. Director: Julius Onah Writers: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah & Peter Glanz Cast: Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America) Danny Ramirez (Joaquín Torres) Shira Haas (Ruth Bat‑Seraph) Carl Lumbly (Isaiah Bradley) Giancarlo Esposito (Sidewinder) Liv Tyler (Betty Ross) Tim Blake Nelson (Samuel Sterns/Leader) Harrison Ford (Thaddeus Ross/Red Hulk) Production: Marvel Studios Produced by Kevin Feige & Nate Moore Music by Laura Karpman & Nora Kroll‑Rosenbaum . Budget & Box Office (as of June 9, 2025): Budget approx. $180 million (projected to be $300 – $375 million because of reshoots) Domestic: $200.5 M; International: $213.1 M; Worldwide total: ≈ $413.6 M Rating: Out of 10 How did Sam Wilson Survive the Movie Darryl: 3.2/10 Brian: 2.79/10 Contact Us The Infamous Podcast can be found wherever podcasts are found on the Interwebs, feel free to subscribe and follow along on social media. And don't be shy about helping out the show with a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help us move up in the ratings. @infamouspodcast facebook/infamouspodcast instagram/infamouspodcast stitcher Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play iHeart Radio contact@infamouspodcast.com Our theme music is ‘Skate Beat’ provided by Michael Henry, with additional music provided by Michael Henry. Find more at MeetMichaelHenry.com. The Infamous Podcast is hosted by Brian Tudor and Darryl Jasper, is recorded in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show is produced and edited by Brian Tudor. Subscribe today!
Send us a textThe Marvel Cinematic Universe stands at a crossroads, and Captain America: Brave New World perfectly embodies this uncertain moment. What happens when sidekicks become heroes, and their sidekicks become new sidekicks? How does a franchise maintain momentum after its defining narrative conclusion?Sam Wilson's journey from Falcon to Captain America should feel triumphant, but instead reveals deeper issues within the MCU's current direction. The film attempts to resurrect storylines from The Incredible Hulk (2008), finally acknowledges the celestial from Eternals, and introduces adamantium as a bridge to the X-Men universe—yet these connections feel more like obligation than inspiration.While Anthony Mackie brings charisma and conviction to his role, and the action sequences showcase his unique fighting style effectively, the political thriller elements don't reach the heights established by Winter Soldier. President Thaddeus Ross (now played by Harrison Ford) and the return of The Leader as antagonists create intriguing dynamics, but the stakes never feel as consequential as the film wants us to believe.This episode dives deep into what works and what doesn't in Brave New World, while exploring the broader question of MCU fatigue. Have we reached a point where even the most devoted fans are becoming disenchanted? Is there a path forward that recaptures the magic that made these interconnected stories feel special rather than obligatory?We also compare Marvel's approach to continuity with Star Wars', examining how different creative structures lead to different storytelling outcomes. The MCU's "Marvel Parliament" versus Lucasfilm's Story Group reveals fascinating contrasts in how franchises maintain coherence across multiple projects.Whether you're still fully invested in the MCU or feeling the fatigue, this conversation offers fresh perspectives on where superhero storytelling might go from here. Is it time for Marvel to take a break and recalibrate, or push forward into bold new territory?Twitter handles:Project Geekology: https://twitter.com/pgeekologyAnthony's Twitter: https://twitter.com/odysseyswowDakota's Twitter: https://twitter.com/geekritique_dakInstagram:https://instagram.com/projectgeekology?igshid=1v0sits7ipq9yYouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@projectgeekologyGeekritique (Dakota):https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwciIqOoHwIx_uXtYTSEbASupport the show
We're back with this last week's homework. We go through The Gorge, Companion, Fountain of Youth, Mufasa, Thunderbolts*, Captain America: Brave New World, Black Widow, Runaway Jury, Trial By Fire, Havoc, The Brutalist, and WWE/AEW. This episode's featured song is "Numb" by Truss. You can find them on the Nyrdcast Featured Music Playlist and at: Linktree | Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify Check us out at our website and on social media. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast on iTunes.
After a short hiatus, I am back to talk about the two latest Marvel movies, Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*! Is the MCU back on track or is it still struggling to find it's identity post-Endgame? Listen in to hear my thoughts! Be sure to Subscribe on iTunes and Spotify and wherever podcasts are found!helixreviewspodcast@gmail.comEpisode 391: https://ia600909.us.archive.org/8/items/391-thunderbolts-and-captain-america-brave-new-world-reviews./391%20Thunderbolts%20and%20Captain%20America%20Brave%20New%20World%20Reviews..MP3
In this special Friday minisode, Eric skips the usual movie breakdown for something a little more personal — a check-in between episodes, between moods, between milestones. After almost revisiting Captain America: Brave New World (and realizing the timing wasn't right), he pivots into honesty, sharing where Marvel Maniac has been, what it's become, and where it's headed next. From podcast consistency to personal growth, today's episode is about showing up — even when it's not flashy — and staying connected to the mission. Plus: a gentle tease for what might be coming in Episode 200.
I have sadly sworn off the MCU for some time now. None of the offerings in recent years have appealed to me but when Captain America: Brave New World showed up on Disney Plus I decided to give it a try. Featuring the debut of Harrison Ford's Red Hulk character, could this be the movie that brings me back into the Marvel Universe? Not so fast. Join me while I try to find a ray of hope inside this flawed super hero movie.
The Gents try to grasp with the bomb of their second album by watching the 2016 comedy Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping! :29 - Movies We've Seen (Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning, Alita: Battle Angel, The Waterboy, Final Destination 1-3, Captain America: Brave New World) 21:30 - TV Shows We've Seen (Taskmaster, Love Death & Robots, Slow Horses, Ludwig, Andor, Hacks, The Last of Us) 49:20 - Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Get bonus episodes on our Patreon! Next episode: Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)
Cobra joins us in studio this week talking NFL season predictions and we look at a very early 2026 mock draft to see where the QBs go, with rumors of the Steelers and other teams waiting for next year to address QB. We break down the NBA Finals and give our predictions of winners and in how many games. We look at this Saturday's WWE & AAA Worlds Collide and WWE Money in the Bank and give our predictions for who will be Mr. Money in the Bank. The show ends with some Marvel talk (including SPOILERS for Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts) and we break down which characters we would each be in the MCU.
This week, join three brothers and a dad as they dive into a packed episode! They give their final review of Andor Season 2, Ike shares an update on his rewatch of the Infinity Saga, and they discuss Captain America: Brave New World. Plus, they review the latest Disney live-action remake — Lilo & Stitch. It was a fun and jam-packed episode! We hope you enjoy it!
IPS DEPROGRAM 6/1/25 News Bending PsyopsThe episode began with the host announcing the launch of a new AI agent called the IPS stenographer in the Discord server. This bot is designed to automatically summarize the latest comments and create infographics every four hours, posting them in a dedicated summary room. Users can also get a synopsis on demand using a specific command. The host mentioned previously doing this manually and used ChatGPT and Grok to help automate the process. They noted that Grok can elaborate on prompts and assisted in activating the bot on Discord.A core theme of the discussion is the analysis of current events and media through the lens of predictive programming and a concept called the "meta script," which is described as the big story that becomes history. The host views media, including movie trailers and news, as different forms of propaganda – entertainment propaganda parallel to information propaganda – that are interconnected and reveal a larger narrative. By looking at these things holistically, they aim to arrive at subtexts and bigger pictures.The conversation delved into numerous examples and recurring symbols observed in media and events:Movie trailers discussed included Sinners, Mickey 17, Captain America: Brave New World, Fantastic Four, Final Destination: Bloodlines, The Home, and Welcome to Derry.Recurring symbols and themes highlighted were the Space Needle (linked to EMP, the Electronic Music Project, movie plots, and the sinking of the West), EMP events, the eye/iris and needle into the eye (appearing in movie posters and montages), three pillars/masts (seen in the International Hotel, Space Needle, and a Mexican Navy ship), space interpreted as inner space or mind control, the sinking of America or the West (symbolized by the Titanic, the boat hitting the bridge, the Space Needle, and One World Trade Tower), and various numbers and dates (such as 6-11, 11-6, 84, 216, and 33).Specific events analyzed through this lens included the Trump shooting in Butler (linked to the Riddler, Ave Maria, and specific numbers), a Mexican Navy ship hitting the Brooklyn Bridge (noting the three masts and the death of a cadet named America), the East Palestine train derailment (compared to the Netflix movie White Noise and recent lawsuits against BlackRock and Vanguard), the JFK assassination (connected to Trump symbolism, dates, Macbeth, and a home movie allegedly showing his "death"), and the Reagan shooting (noting the 33-year delay in James Brady's death being ruled a homicide).The host discussed the concept of the "auto-hoaxer" and observed media attempts to frame it negatively. They also touched on "Psychic Driving", the "political horseshoe theory" as a deliberately implemented model, and interpreting world events through the lens of WWE kayfabe.The host mentioned the upcoming release of PSYOP trading cards.
In Marvel’s second modern attempt at a Hulk movie our big green guy is back played by a different actor and with a decidedly different aesthetic. Is this HULK a smash hit? Find out as we go back in the archives to cover the unlikely prequel to Captain America: Brave New World. Dan Moren, John Moltz and Guy English.
Rob Edwards is a thirty-year veteran of movies and television who wrote and produced shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, and In Living Color before writing two classic animated films for Walt Disney Feature Animation: the Academy Awards and Golden Globe nominated The Princess and The Frog, and the Academy Awards nominated Treasure Planet. His new project is the graphic novel Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls. Rob Edwards reflects on being creative for a living, the difference between tourists and pretenders and being a real professional, and how he feels obligated to both teach and entertain in his work. He also shares what it was like working on such iconic TV shows as Roc and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and managing the pressure and responsibility of being one of the few Black creative workers with his range and depth of experience in Hollywood. Rob Edwards also does some sharing about his approach to writing the new Marvel film Captain America: Brave New World and how Anthony Mackie's character “Sam Wilson” (who is now the new “Captain America”) reflects the much deeper history of the long Black Freedom Struggle and the pressure to always succeed in the face of the (near) impossible. On this special Memorial Day episode of the podcast, Chauncey DeVega continues with his annual tradition of reading an account of the first such remembrance day that took place at the end of the Civil War when now free Black Americans buried Union Army war dead in Charleston, South Carolina and honored their sacrifice and victory over the Confederacy with a huge parade. Chauncey also reads an account written by a member of the United States Colored Troops about his experience(s) in the Civil War and doing battle against the forces of the Confederacy who were determined to keep Black people in bondage. And Chauncey DeVega goes on a journey around his neighborhood and has a surreal series of experiences where he was lucky to not be shot by street pirates, learned from a wise honored elder on the bus, and then encountered a young man who claimed to be a time traveler. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast
The boys return to the theater to see Marvels latest film Thunderbolts, after the disappointing Captain America: Brave New World can the MCU get back on track before the highly anticipated Fantastic 4 and Avengers: Doomsday? We're about to find out, also the boys rank all the MCU post Avengers: Endgame